What started as a simple social media post turned into a not so simple situation for Oakdale Junior High School Principal Catherine Medlin last week. A post on an Oakdale Facebook Page inquired if other parents had received the “letter they sent home” … regarding “new dress code restrictions.”

However, nothing new has taken effect.

“It is exactly the same as it always has been,” Principal Medlin said of the current OJUSD Dress Code, noting there was no letter sent home last week, nor any changes to the existing Dress Code at OJHS.

Medlin did, however, share that typically each spring, she issues a Dress Code reminder during student announcements. The one thing that was different last week, she explained, was that she offered the students copies of the Dress Code in the office if they were interested in reviewing it.

“This was the first time that I handed out our actual Dress Code as a paper from our office,” she said. “Just in case they had questions, they could come and ask us about it.”

The Dress Code handout offered at the office was taken directly from the OJUSD 7-12 Conduct Code handout given out and signed by each OJUSD family at the start of each school year.

“I have re-written nothing. I can’t do anything like that without Board Policy or Board Approval,” Medlin shared. “It’s the exact same one that parents signed at the beginning of the year.”

It wasn’t until the morning following the announcement that the principal arrived to her office to find a number of e-mails questioning the dress code changes.

“All of our conduct codes are on the district website,” Medlin stated of districtwide uniformity, including a review of inappropriate attire.

“Sleepwear is on here,” she noted of the paper made available in the office. “They’re all wearing jammy (pajama) bottoms, we don’t say anything about that. Styles change. It used to be they couldn’t wear camo on camo on camo; no one says anything about camo anymore. We enforce it to a degree.”

Recognizing the ages of her students and their desire for self-expression, Medlin shared she wants to encourage that, to a degree. Her main concern being that students are covered up and clothing isn’t inappropriately fitting, adding that there is still a Conduct Code which needs to be followed.

“Nobody has been suspended for Dress Code,” she said. “We give them the option to have somebody bring them something, get something out of their PE locker or wear something we have here in the office of extra clothes.”

The Conduct Code for all OJUSD campuses can be found at ojusd.org.